reliable sources on the itunes store. we are back next week for another look at the media. "state of the yoounion" with ca crowley begins right now. the worst week of his presidency, or not? today new poll numbers show the president is standing in the storm. hz approval rating is holding at 53%. reaction and white house strategy going forward from senior advisor dan fifer and then republicans erupt. >> unconscionable, unbelievable. >> echos of watergate >> outrageous abuse of power. >> illegal. >> is this still america? >> the gop is at full throttle and pulls show public support for what they're doing. senator rand paul joins us. and our panel weighs in on the president's perils and polls. republican strategist and cnn

cheese chief white house correspondent jessica yellin and susan paige. i'm candy crowley than is "state of the union." so we want to bring you some new poll numbers cnn has, the first we have taken since these three controversies erupted and rained literally on the white house. i'm going to talk to dan fifer in a moment, but i want to set the scene politically with jessica yellin. i have to believe having looked at them the white house is probably pleased. >> i think you are right this morning, candy, because it is good news for the president. according to our new cnn/orc poll 53% of americans approve of the job president obama is doing. now, that poll was taken after this tough week. so it looks like the controversies have not eroded his support among the american people. >> is there anything inside the poll that says why not? because i think the convention gnat wisdom was going into it that he'd been hurt. >> absolutely. the numbers do tell a story. for one thing, his approval is

largely unchanged from the 51% we found in our last poll that was in early april and up from his low of 47% in mid-march. so a couple of points here, one, he's seen as out there responding to these controversies especially the irs. quickly he's showing outrage, continuing with his job. remember, president clinton maintained an approval above 50% throughout the monica lewinsky scan d.a. daal chlt /* /- scandal. republicans very critical, democrats supportive, independents divided. people are still reflecting what we saw before the controversies. >> that's kind of unsurprising that republicans would be more upset about it. so we've had a little more than a week of the news about the irs, specifically when asked about the irs, what does this poll show about the president's handling of it? >> the big question we asked first was do people believe what the president said about the controversy?

and we found most do. more than six in ten say what president obama said about the matter has been completely or mostly true. and a majority 55% say the irs acted on its own with 37% saying senior white house officials ordered the irs to target the tea party and other conservative groups for extra scrutiny. again, that's good news for the white house. >> so, how's the president fared when it comes to benghazi? that's obviously been on his plate for a much longer time. >> yes. and this is a much more divided picture for the white house. on that controversy -- and that again is over last september's attack in benghazi which left the u.s. ambassador and three other americans dead, 42% are satisfied with the way the obama administration handled the situation. now, that's not a great number, but it's also basically unchanged from last year. and it's the same story on the controversy that flared up afterwards. nearly six in ten say the gop is

reacting appropriately with less than four in ten saying, well, they're overreacting. >> so that's in fact kind of my next question which was we spent the whole week, we heard the i-word, impeachment. i'm sure a lot of folks even said to me we need to be careful, republicans were warned to kind of dial back and stick to the facts. but the public, you say, is supportive of where republicans are so far. >> the public is good with where republicans are because for the republican party there has been fear that some members will overplay their hand on these controversies. well, our poll indicates right now that's not the case. 54% of those questions say congressional republicans are reacting appropriately on the irs scandal. and the same on the benghazi controversy. nearly six in ten say the gop is reacting appropriately. fewer than four in ten say it is an overreaction. and the drum beat by

congressional republicans could be behind a rise in the number of americans who think that the u.s. could have prevented the attack in benghazi. 59% feel that way now. that's up 11 points from last november. >> jess, this may be why republicans are continuing the push with more hearing possible. they see the same polling we do, generally. one poll showed a majority of the people outraged by benghazi actually don't know where it is. so there's a lot of room for education on this issue. but there's that reservoir of good will for president obama. i was asked earlier about his popularity. so i'm sure his popularity is still high. it's job approval. so going forward, he still has to keep those kind of high approval ratings of his job approval in order to get anything done. >> it's all about how he continues to respond. >> jessica, thank you. i spoke with senior white house advisor dan fifer just a few moments ago and we started with the poll numbers for the president.

joining me now dan fifer, senior advisor to the president. >> thanks, candy. thank you for having me. >> we have the poll numbers showing the president has over 50% approval, which is always good i think for an administration despite a really tough week. talk to me about the agenda now and what you think you can push forward with any strength on capitol hill. >> well, i think we're going to continue pushing forward with the president's agenda to help middle class families grow the economy. specifically comprehensive immigration reform is continuing to move forward in the senate. that's a really good sign. we're working to come up with a budget agreement. we will push forward on all elements of the agenda. i think all the events given last week the question is are republicans going to continue to work with the president? look for opportunities for bipartisan cooperation or use it as a reason not to act at all. >> or the question might be does the president still have the sway? >> i think there's no question about that. i think the american people have great faith in the president. we live in divided government. the question for republicans are

they going to work with the president? if they decide not to, as the heritage foundation called on them not to do this week, we will have problems. >> a cnn/orc poll asks how much confidence do you have in the people who run the government. 43% said a great deal or some. 56% said only a little. when you say what's your confidence in the system? 56% had a great deal of confidence in the system. so this is about the people in the system. >> well, i think this is a long running tradition in sort of how americans view government. they have great faith in our democracy, as they should because we have the greatest system in the world and it works. but government -- there is a healthy skepticism of government in this country. and where there are problems like there were in the irs this week, we have to address them in order to build that up. >> the skepticism tends to make governing harder because when you want to do something skepticism makes people go i don't want to do that and that works against you. >> right. we have to make the case, this

is a challenge for all presidents in order to move forward, we're going to have to convince people you're doing it in the right way. >> answer a question for me this week, when did the president know that the irs had been targeting? when did he have that knowledge? when did someone say to him mr. president you should know. >> right. in late april. >> there was an independent investigation into this coming to a conclusion. the president learned about it when the report was leaked a few days before it was released. here's the reason for that -- >> the president had -- i'm not talking about the council's report, the council's report, the i.g. report, i'm talking about the investigation itself. mr. president, we found that there are some agents however it would have been said to him, we found there are some agents that targeted groups specifically with the names tea party or patriot. when did he know that information?

>> when it came out in the news a week ago friday, i think. and here's why. because here's the cardinal rule when you're dealing with situations like these, not just this white house but all white houses is you do not interfere in an independent investigation and you do not do anything to give off the appearance of interference in an independent investigation. >> but the treasury department knew. >> as they should because they oversee the irs. >> sure. but you're in the middle of a campaign, and it does seem that -- i guess it was tim geithner at the time was treasury secretary, but political ears would go, whoa. if this should come out, you know, this is something maybe the white house ought to know about that we seem to have however they were describing at the time a problem or whatever. >> well, the political sensitivity is exactly why no one got involved. it's not just the treasury department who knew during the presidential campaign. congressman issa was informed during the presidential campaign and he didn't say anything. and he talked the other day about why he didn't say anything. because when you're dealing with a nonpartisan entity like the irs, you want to have an actual independent investigation before you make allegations.

same reason no one in the administration talked about it is the same reason -- no one in the treasury department didn't talk about is the same reason that congressman issa didn't talk about it. >> a woman lois lerner knew, but this is recently they knew the report was coming out, several days later, they planted a question she was at an american bar association event of some sort and she answered the question. that's how the news came out. many in congress say you did not tell the truth here. do you agree with that? should she have told congress? and if she should have, the question might be why is she still in that job? >> i think there's no question that the activity at root here was inappropriate and inexcusable as the president said. the new acting commissioner of the irs served presidents of both parties is doing a 30-day top down review to look at everything that happened and make sure anyone who did anything wrong will be held

accountable. >> so you don't think on the face of it someone who didn't tell congress something -- that by the way they have been asking about for a couple of years. they went to the irs and said is this happening. so she knew there was a report coming out saying, yeahs, mistakes were made, as we like to say, in washington. the president makes no judgment whether it is a good idea to tell the american bar association but not the folks -- >> as a general principle we want to work closely with congress. in this case i can't speak to the facts of what she knew or what she didn't. that's why we're going to have the acting commissioner to look at it. accountability is not going to wait for 30 days. if they find that somebody did something wrong, he's going to act immediately to take action. >> let me turn you to benghazi. when susan rice went on this show and all the other shows on sunday, was the president aware of the talking points that we have seen sort of emerge over the last six months? >> of the many things the president gets involved in, talking points for sundays shows is not one of them. but what he was aware of was the

consensus of the intelligence community at the time. >> was he aware of the back and forth in the state and white house? >> no president would be involved in something like that. >> so he did say in an interview with cbs which we later learned after the election but a week and a half after susan rice was on he did say he wasn't sure if it was a terrorist attack in a cbs interview. >> no one was sure at that point. that's the point. that's why as you look at e-mails the intelligence community -- >> well, no. libya was sure of it and the cia seemed pretty sure of it. >> distinguish between two things, was it an act of terror? absolutely. and the president called it that the day after in the rose garden. was it involved in a premeditated attack? no one knew at the time and that's exactly why the talking points were written by the intelligence community. >> why didn't the president just say, yeah, it was a terrorist attack. >> he already called it an attack of terror. we didn't know if it was a premeditated attack by a terrorist group or something

that was the result of a protest or a video that had sparked outrage across the middle east that week. >> finally i have to turn to an issue come up. sexual assault in the military, the president had a meeting with top military brass, said we have to stop this. we have people from donald rumsfeld up saying we can't have this and nothing has happened. i want to play you something tulsi gabbert said to me last week. >> there's no excuses. it's not enough to say this is something we'll stand for, we'll hold these people accountable unless you're providing a system and process to actually do that. >> both, tammy duckworth also on the show and tulsi gabbard said we need to take this entire process out of the chain of command. something at the moment your defense secretary is against. where does the president stand on the idea of having military prosecutors be the place that women or men go when there's a -- when they have a sexual assault charge? >> well, there's no question that this is absolutely inexcusable conduct. the president spoken and convened the secretary of defense in the white house on

thursday to express this has to be resolved. we're going to look for a way. >> they have been told that for years. >> and the lack of response and action here is completely unacceptable secretary of defense knows that. joint chiefs know that. the president's communicated. so what we have to do is find a way to address this in a better fashion that's been done, the president instructed the secretary of defense to do that. >> does the president support the idea or think it's feasible to take this issue out of the chain of command so a woman or a man who has a sexual assault charge doesn't have to go to their unit commander to report this? >> well, there's an array of -- a change like that something has to be done legislatively. it's a change to the military code of justice. there's an array of solutions out there. we're going to look at every one to find a way to work best. >> we'll get you back to answer that. dan pfeiffer, senior adviser to the president. thank you for joining us. when we return, an investigation into the irs targeting of conservative groups might not be enough for some members on capitol hill.

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joining me now senator rand paul a republican from kentucky and in kentucky today. thank you for joining us. i want to bring to your ataengs couple of inside other poll numbers. the first one had to do with the benghazi attack. the question was, did the obama administration try to intentionally mislead the public on the benghazi attack? 50% of americans said no, the administration did not try to intentionally mislead on benghazi. on the subject of the irs and the question was -- did white house officials direct the irs to concentrate on conservative political groups? 55% said no. the white house did not order it. so, if you take those in combination, i want to ask you what your answer to those

questions are. number one, i know you do believe that the white house deliberately misled americans on benghazi. >> well, you know, i think what's more important than either whether i believe that or whether the polls show that, it's that somebody be held accountable. and not so much for the talking points afterwards. i think there was some misdirection and some political nature to the talking points, but i think that's always missed the point that what's most important is someone made a decision to put an embassy and consulate in a war-torn country with no host country to guard that embassy or consulate, leaving the guarding and security up to a militia. that decision alone was a terrible and tragic error. and that's what needs to change. the review board looked at benghazi, but still no one is saying what i keep saying over and over again even now i think the embassy in tripoli should be under the guard of military command similar to what we do in baghdad. we shouldn't treat tripoli and

benghazi like paris, we need to treat it more like baghdad. that's an error of judgment that the president and the secretary of state made. and that comes into account not because we just want to blame them, but because we want to make sure this doesn't happen again. >> so the president specifically asked in his rose garden appearance this week that congress join him and give more money for precisely what you're talking about to go to some of these outposts that are dangerous and to increase the security around them. are you on board? >> yeah. in fact, in my budget i increased marines and security budgets, but i think they continue to make decisions that really aren't in our best interests. the president continues to find more money to send arms both to egypt as well as syria when maybe we should have more money spent on the defensive nature of being able to defend our embassies around the world.

>> one of the things our poll showed most americans think republicans have every right and approve of republicans looking into these controversies, and yet there's always the danger that this looks a lot more political than it does policy. i want to turn you to your remarks in iowa, which we all know that has a political overlay, where you said you thought because of benghazi hillary clinton, former secretary of state, isn't qualified to be president. she should be disqualified to be president. when you make remarks like that and you may make similar ones when you go to new hampshire, another place with great political overlay, doesn't it undercut the idea that this is about policy? >> well, i absolutely stick by them. in bill clinton's administration when les aspen did not provide security in mogadishu, the famous black hawk down, he was asked to resign and admitted he made errors -- excuse me?

>> it isn't the calling for her or saying i don't think she's qualified to be president, it's that you did it in iowa or new hampshire giving it a political patina. i'm asking you if it's helpful? >> i've done it in every state and every stop because i think it's pretty important for her to accept blame for not providing security. she was asked repeatedly to provide security in benghazi on several occasions including direct cables and she says she never read the cables on security. i find that inexcusable and a dereliction of duty, whether it has political overtones or not it really goes to the heart of who you are as secretary of state if you do not provide security for an embassy begging for it, that's absolutely a dereliction of duty and she should have resigned and accepted blame for it. >> moving on to the irs problem at this moment, which is really sort of in its infancy, there will be lots more hearings coming up this week and probably after that.

everyone we've heard from so far at the irs, and this includes interviews with folks at the cincinnati building where this was alleged to have started, they all say this is not political, that this was an attempt to kind of get a hold of this influx of applications for tax exempt status. maybe you do, i don't know how that process works, but we do know this one place processes 70,000 applications. can you see in your mind's eye a way this might not have been political, that this was a misguided stupid way to sort but that they didn't intend it to be some kind of political attempt to harass the tea party? >> i would think if there's any chance that this was a mistake, the investigator general wouldn't be coming out and saying otherwise, and the irs themselves wouldn't be saying --

they made mistakes. >> they say it's a mistake. i think the question is whether it's political. >> well, i think we're going to have to see the memorandum. apparently there is a policy, and i think we're going to find there's a written policy that says we were targeting people who were opposed to the president. and when that comes forward, we need to know who wrote the policy and who approved the policy. i can't believe that one agent sort of started this, one rogue agent started this, because it seems to be too widespread. we do need to get to the bottom of this, but i think what the american people want is just like on benghazi. why does benghazi go on? no one was ever fired? so people made tragic errors, no one's accepting responsibility and no one was fired. same with the irs, they're having some commissioners resign who were going to resign already, and people still saying what was their policy, who wrote the policy and now there's rumors who wrote the policy is the person running obama care, which doesn't give us a lot of confidence about obama care? >> senator, i have to run. i'm way over on this, but i have

to just go back to something you said. are you telling me you think there's a memo somewhere in which someone said in the memo we're targeting people going after the president? is that what i heard you say? >> well, we keep hearing the reports and we have several specifically worded items saying who was being targeted. in fact, one of the bullet points says those who are critical of the president. so i don't know if that comes from a policy, but that's what's being reported in the press. >> okay. >> and reported orally. i haven't seen a policy statement, but i think we need to see that. >> all right. listen, thank you so much for joining us, senator rand paul, we appreciate it. >> sure. >> when we return, heavy rain, tornadoes and baseball-sized hail ravaged the midwest. and there's more on the way, next. and dedicated support, free you to focus on what matters. centurylink. your link to what's next.

the midwest is bracing for more wicked weather today. high winds, lightning and rain ravaged oklahoma city last night downing power lines and utility

poles. while in kansas four strike that tornadoes touched down in the central part of the state. it looks like it might be more of the same today. alexandra steele joins me from the cnn weather center. what's up and who needs to seek some place to hide? >> almost 20 million people, candy. so 14 reports of tornadoes yesterday. you mentioned a few of them. you can see thunderstorms firing off although nothing severe as of yet. no tornado watches or warnings yet this morning, but we will see them develop this afternoon and tonight. oklahoma city getting hit yesterday, today in the firing line as well. large hail, baseball-sized hail, saw it yesterday, potential today as well, 70-mile-per-hour winds. tornadoes likely, kc, wichita, tulsa, down towards oklahoma city as well. tomorrow, that threat moves eastward, chicago, kansas city and oklahoma city once again as we get in toward monday. so heads up in the upper plains and northern midwest today, candy. >> thanks, alexandra. kansas city and oklahoma, heads up. up next here, the irs controversy and it's effect on elections both past and future.

>> it seems like the truth is hidden from the american people just long enough to make it through an election. >> if this hearing becomes essentially a boot strap to continue the campaign of 2012 and to prepare for 2014, we will be making a very, very serious mistake. >> our panel, donna brazile, jessica yellin, susan paige and ana navarro is next.

with me now, democratic strategist and cnn contributor donna brazile, usa today bureau chief susan page, cnn chief white house correspondent jessica yellin and cnn contributor ana navarro. >> girl power. >> ladies, welcome. unfortunately no one got color coded today. looking smart, be smart and tell me what surprised you in the polls?

>> the fact that president obama's approval rating went up and not down in the wake of a very tough weak and it's a cautionary flag for republicans concerned about overreach and maybe a lesson for the white house which is trying with the president's travel and the message that he's portraying that he's focused on other issues, not on these scandals. >> it's bound to be good news. we should say we sort of characterize it as about the same as last month, 51 to 53 or something. >> but it didn't go down. >> what everyone thought it would do. >> given the outrage we all saw expressed, a couple points. one is that we also see in the poll numbers that the americans do care about these issues and these controversies. >> right. let's put those up. we do have the, do you think it's a very important issue to the nation, we asked about all three scandals. interrupt for one second.

is this a very important issue to the nation, irs, 55% said yes, benghazi, 55% said yes, ap, 53% said yes. so it's not as though it's not an important issue to folks, it's just they haven't made some judgment that somehow the president's mishandling things. >> i think they like the way the president's reacting, they don't blame necessarily the president for what has happened to date especially in the irs case. and there's a reservoir of good will for the president already that we have to see if he squanders it or if he acts well. so far his reaction has been strong, but we're at a crucial point for the white house and for republicans. >> well, you know, the american people saw the president every day this week reacting to these controversies, trying to be intelligent about it, to tell them, look, we're on top of it. we're going to get to the bottom of it. he expresses outrage. he also expressed with regards to the irs, he expressed his concern with regards to what was unfolding with the justice department probe, but more importantly the president kept his focus on jobs.

he kept his focus on helping the middle class. so while there was a -- the country might have been engulfed in these controversies, there was a split screen. and people saw the president acting yet as if he cares about jobs and economy and budget and other things. >> i got to tell you, i found the poll numbers surprising. i saw 53% approval number and made me wonder if we didn't oversample chicago or something. >> republican, that's the issue, 15% of the republicans give the president the benefit of the doubt. >> 15%, that's not. >> we'll take it. >> we'll take it. >> we'll divide the number. >> i want to throw those numbers up. >> i want to throw these numbers up. it is broken down by party. democrats 87% approve, independents 47%, republicans 15%. and i think that's very indicative of where the country is. right now, we are a polarized country, we are a divided country, even the independents are divided.

that's when you know we are divided. >> independents are always divided. >> well, they always lean something. right now we have them at 47%, you've got them practically split down the middle. >> well, they don't have to decide anything. >> believe the president's acting on behalf of all americans, not just democrats. >> it's the clinton white house. we're back to the 1990s where the president got into trouble, president clinton did, and he survived it because the opposition overreached and looked like they were on a partisan warpath. and the white house after a tough start focused on issues that really matter to people like housing. >> something we saw happen this week that i had not seen happen in this administration yet is we saw democrats be very critical of president obama, we saw harry reid be critical of president obama. you lost harry reid, there goes the alamo. >> they haven't lost harry reid. sometimes i think it helps the president if he's got, you know -- democrats don't want to be on the side of the irs. >> maybe you're right. maybe criticism from harry reid

does help. that could be constructive for anybody. >> jessica, i'm going to stop talking too much. i haven't gone to church, i haven't been praising the lord yet, that's why i'm talking so much. the truth is democrats are outraged by the irs, democrats were targeted not just conservative republican tea party, one-third of them, but many feel something happened and want to find out what happened. >> i want to ask you quickly about one poll number. this was the justice department collecting phone records of the associated press, what used to be the wire service, now it does everything everybody else does. and the question was, is it acceptable for the justice department to do this? 43% said yes, 52% said, no, it's not acceptable. i would love to have that number a little higher as a journalist. but has the president -- he sort of said, well, i was protecting the country. >> there's two things on this. it is in fairness to them an awkward position for the

president because it's -- the doj's conducting an investigation of the white house when they seized these records of the white house and the administration. so it's an awkward thing for the president to comment on. they're sort of investigating him and his people. that said, i mean, it's outrageous what they've done. i'm not even going to be unbiased about it. >> if it fits into a general scheme, a big government. >> overreaching. >> it can overreach, it can investigate your taxes, it can deny you tax exempt status, make it harder for the news media to do stories that you think are important. >> i think the ap scandal and irs scandals are great uniters. you have the apu and the aplu basically coming out with the same thing. you have the progressives on one side with civil libertarians on the other side united and worrying about this overreach. >> national security issue. the president will give a big speech at the national defense university. hopefully shed more light on what is happening. remember, the republicans are

requesting that the obama administration investigate these leaks. >> that's true. >> and that is one of the reasons why there's an investigation. not a scandal, investigation. >> i need everybody to stay here because when we return we're going to talk about repealing the 20,000-page health care law, all seven feet of it. matt's brakes didn't sound right... ...so i brought my car to mike at meineke...

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skeptical. and guess who's in charge of implementing many of the law's provisions when they go into effect in 2014? the irs. the controversy's effect on implementing the 2014 health care law. i love to eat. i love hanging out with my friends. i have a great fit with my dentures. i love kiwis. i've always had that issue with the seeds getting under my denture. super poligrip free -- it creates a seal of the dentures in my mouth. even well-fitting dentures let in food particles. super poligrip is zinc free. with just a few dabs, it's clinically proven to seal out more food particles so you're more comfortable and confident while you eat. super poligrip free made the kiwi an enjoyable experience. [ charlie ] try zinc free super poligrip. man: how did i get here? dumb luck? or good decisions? ones i've made. ones we've all made. about marriage. children. money. about tomorrow.

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as in never ever. now about that parking ticket. [ grunting ] [ male announcer ] the citi simplicity card is the only card that never has late fees, a penalty rate, or an annual fee, ever. go to citi.com/simplicity to apply. ...and we inspected his brakes for free. -free is good. -free is very good. [ male announcer ] now get 50% off brake pads and shoes at meineke. welcome back. i want to talk a little bit about the controversy's effect on health care. we know that republicans have been trying to at least erode it ever since it came into being, but now you do have the, do you really trust the irs to run this program and enforce it by the way? how damaging do you think this is as the implementation of kind of rough parts of obama care come into play, the taxes and all that?

>> it's a challenge to try to enroll so many people and these new exchanges that are being set up all across the country, 15 states, it's a challenge to -- >> to only 15 states. states were told they could get federal money for medicaid if they would sign up for these exchanges. >> right. >> and only 15 have. >> that's right. admitted health care providers are now trying to figure out if they're going to go into these markets to try to recruit new people, basically the uninsured. this is a huge challenge for the administration to implement this law and to implement it well at a time the public is still divided over whether or not it's a good law at all. >> right. >> i'm going to go off script here with my republicans. i'm just going to say 37 times is a lot of times, guys. >> it's going nowhere. >> that's the point. because it's going nowhere. because it's symbolic. we already got the symbolism. the lines are clearly drawn. republicans don't like it, democrats do. i think this is going to have to be a case where we let it

implement, but they're voicing concerns and the pain that it's going to instill in america. there's going to be huge consequences to the implementation of this bill. it's going to be very costly for some business, very burdensome, it's going to effect democrats and republicans, and there's going to be a lot of screaming in the country. and we're going to have to fix it. but, please, not a 38th time. >> i don't think the problem for obama care is the fact that it's part of the irs -- the irs is part of the enforcement. i think the problem is majority of the states are not setting up state exchanges in almost half the states there's question about participating in the expansion of medicaid. those are the pillars to expand coverage to all americans, the fundamental obama promise of his presidency. i think that advocates are worried that it sets obama care up to fail.

>> a lot of the business owners around the country are looking what it means for them. what the costs are going to be. a lot of people making the decision whether they're going to drop health insurance for their employees and just pay the fine because it's cheaper. so, there's going to be a lot of unintended consequences, don't you think? >> do another repeal vote. part of the problem is, how does this get managed and the obama administration and the states set up their exchanges? >> time is wasting here. they need to have this done by september, by the fall. >> yes. they are not even sure how it's all going to roll out. it's never been done before. >> i want to quickly play you all in all back-to-back sound bytes. one came thursday in the rose garden as the president talked about the irs and other, these other troubles that came up. the other is friday in baltimore where he went to talk about jobs. i want to ask you about something on the other side. >> it is just simply unacceptable for there to even be a hint of partisanship for

ideology when it comes to the implication of our tax laws. i know it seems folks down there are more concerned with their jobs than with yours. others may get distracted by chasing every fleeting issue that passes by, but the middle class will always be my number one focus, period. >> sort of seem to be two different things. rose garden, this is terrible. baltimore. >> i don't know about jobs. >> you have to at least tell the press and those paying attention here that, here, take all these issues very seriously. when you're outside the beltway, the president should get outside the beltway and get outside the bubble. you have to remind the people -- i'm on your side. i'm on your side. i'm fighting for you. i know what concerns you. >> i would like to offer a sincere apology to the poor international leader that was standing there in the rose garden next to the president because it was terrible the way we bombarded with domestic issues and scandals.

i really get bothered by this tone that president obama adopts quite frequently when he talks about washington and their jobs. i hate to break it to him, after five years, he is washington. he is part of the problem and he's got to be part of the solution and part of the management. he cannot -- >> it has worked for him. it's a political posture that has worked for him. it's a strategy. >> it talks to about how hands off he is. >> i think there are a couple of things. i get your point and it's one of the reasons there is such a partisan divide and reflects it. the president is doing what effective damage control so far and the polling shows it. he showed emotion this week. when you saw it in the rose garden. i think that is part of the reason that his poll numbers are so high. people like it when he gets outraged. he showed he is still on his game talking to the american people. that's what bill clinton did during the lewinsky ongoing crisis and his numbers stayed above 55%. what is this and what isn't it? it hasn't shown to be a scandal that reaches into the white

house on the irs issue so far. as long as that continues to be true, he'll hold pretty solid. >> i have to play you one quick thing before we go. we all know when presidents get in trouble they dmaul the calvary. i wanted to play you something from michelle obama in a pretty amazing, pretty strong commencement speech at bowie state. >> as my husband has said, austin, please, stand up and reject the slander that says a black child with a book is trying to act white. reject that. >> we have heard that michelle obama was going to play a more policy oriented role. i haven't seen a lot of that lately, but is this the time to roll out the first lady here? >> she is, by far, one of the most popular people. not just the administration but the country. she is extremely astute. so roll her out. >> she is the hugger in chief.

she can hug and show emotion. i think she's a great force to have out there. >> nodding heads. >> empowering young people. fine position for her to take. >> donna brazille. >> i like the new bangs. >> donna brazille, jessica yellin, susan page, ana navarro, good-bye. when we return, north korea launches a missile. a prom 50 years in the making and someone in florida is a big winner. the headlines are next. i got this. [thinking] is it that time? the son picks up the check? [thinking] i'm still working. he's retired. i hope he's saving. i hope he saved enough. who matters most to you says the most about you. at massmutual we're owned by our policyowners, and they matter most to us. whether you're just starting your 401(k) or you are ready for retirement, we'll help you get there.

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there was this and this. she got a parking ticket... ♪ and she forgot to pay her credit card bill on time. good thing she's got the citi simplicity card. it doesn't charge late fees or a penalty rate. ever. as in never ever. now about that parking ticket. [ grunting ] [ male announcer ] the citi simplicity card is the only card that never has late fees, a penalty rate, or an annual fee, ever. go to citi.com/simplicity to apply.

time now to get you up to speed on today's other headlines. president obama gave the commencement speech at morehouse college today. he urged graduates at historically black school to be good role models. >> plenty of men in our community continue to make bad choices and i have to say growing up i made quite a few myself. sometimes i wrote off my own failings as another example of the world trying to keep a black

man down. i had a tendency sometimes to make excuses for me not doing the right thing. one of the things you all have learned the last four years there's no longer room for excuses. >> wit uz the president's second graduation speech of the year. north korea fired a short-range missile into the sea of japan. this is their fourth missile launch in two days. a launch has come despite pleas from south korea and the u.n. chief to halt them at time of high tensions. a 50 years after their high school prom was cancelled, members of the birmingham, alabama, class of 1963 finally had their big dance. civil rights protests forced the cancellation in birmingham high schools. someone in zephyrhills, florida, is waking up richer.

lottery officials say the single winning tick was sold at a publix supermarket at the tampa suburb. the jack spot the largest in powerball history. thank you so much for watching "state of the union". if you missed think part of today's show, you can find us on itunes. fareed zakaria "gps" is next for our viewers here in the u.s. this is "gps the global public square." welcome to all of you in the united states and around the world, i'm fareed zakaria. we'll start today in washington, d.c. it's the week from hell for the white house with three controversies, all rupting on them. -- all erupting on them. how in the world do you handle so many problems, so much incoming fire at once? we'll talk to a man who would know, former white house chief of staff, ken duberstein. and the amazing shrinking american budget deficit. i'll ask mitt romney's chief economic adviser whether he thinks the problem has gone away.